According to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Abbott Laboratories COVID-19 tests are already available for first responders who are self-isolating but have yet to test positive for the virus. ABT stock was down yesterday.
After Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) announced it had received the approval of its rapid COVID-19 test from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its stock went up. But this upgrading was followed by a plunge, and ABT stock is down now.
On Friday, Abbott Laboratories stock plunged by 1.65% and closed at $74.56. Notably, that day, its shares plunged 14% year to date. After hours, it rose by nearly 2% to trade around $76. On March 30, during the pre-market hours, Abbott Laboratories shares were 8.77% up at $81.10. But by the end of the day, the stock tanked to $79.34. The next day, Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $81.48 and closed at $78.91. Yesterday, the shares ended 2.97% down at $76.57. In the pre-market today, ABT stock is up again, trading at $77.55 at the moment of writing.
Detroit to Deploy Abbott Laboratories 5-Minute COVID-19 Test
Recently, Abbott Laboratories unveiled the COVID-19 molecular test that detects fragments of the coronavirus genome within 5 minutes. The first region to deploy the test will be Detroit. According to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, the city has already received the tests. They are now available for volunteers who are self-isolating but still have to test positive for COVID-19.
Mike Duggan secured the cellphone number of Miles White, CEO at Abbott Labs, and called him to beg for the test on Sunday. Anticipating a great number of calls to the company from the whole country, he wanted to be the first to get on the phone. As Duggan said, he struck a deal for five machines and 5,000 kits, which would be a “game-changer” letting firefighters, police, and nurses to get back to work and out of quarantine.
On Monday, Detroit reported 1,804 confirmed coronavirus cases and 50 deaths.
Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of infectious diseases who is working with coronavirus patients at Detroit medical center (DMC), said:
“The high rates of social disadvantage and higher comorbidities make the city of Detroit more vulnerable to Covid-19. So these are the reasons why Detroit is, as far as predictions is concerned, showing the steeper curve and steeper than even New York.”
She further added:
“Both the growth rate and the total cumulative numbers in Detroit are high, and all of these underlying risk factors that our population has, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, CHF. We are also more vulnerable because of the high incidence of poverty, lack of water supply – and the fact that we have low literacy rates.”
According to Abbott Laboratories, it will produce 5 million tests this month. They will be first available for those regions that have been most hit by the virus.
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